'Animalism,' I define it as common sense based on the observation of nature; 'Marxism' being the fruit of an intellectual theory, without corroboration in practice...

Poll taking place at...

http://engforum.pravda.ru/showthread.php3?s=&threadid=24237

Orwell & Marx
Animalism vs. Marxism
By Howard M. Unger

Honors Thesis, State University of New York at Binghamton

Spring 1994

Every line I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism," quotes George Orwell in the preface to the 1956 Signet Classic edition of Animal Farm. The edition, which sold several millions copies, however, omitted the rest of the sentence: "and for democratic Socialism, as I understand it.¬

It is in Animal Farm, written in 1944 but not published until after World War Two in 1945, which Orwell offers a political and social doctrine whose ideas and ideols can be seen in all of his proceeding works. In an essay published in the summer of 1946 entitled "Why I Write,¬ Orwell claimed to have been motivated over the preceding ten years by a desire to "make political writing into an art.¬

In the essay, he states that "in Animal Farm he had for the first time in his writing career consciously tried to achieve this goal - to harmonize political concerns with artistry¬ (Twayne, 17). Orwell, however, for reasons such as the omitted portion of his preface and misreadings of his novels, has been mislabeled a traitor of Socialism or a hero to the right wing by theorists and critics.

His book, besides a parody of Stalinist Russia, intends to show that Russia was not a true democratic Socialist country. Looked at carefully, Animal Farm is a criticism of Karl Marx as well as a novel perpetuating his convictions of democratic Socialism; these are other inherent less discussed qualities in Animal Farm besides the more commonly read harsh criticism of totalitarianism.

Orwell and Marx differed in their views on Socialism and its effects on religion and nationalism as well as Socialism's effects on society and its leaders. Orwell shared many of Marx's viewpoints, but he did not share with Marx the same vision of a utopian future, only the prospects of a worldwide revolution. "Orwell's work indicates that he had read Marx with care and understanding. That he remained unconvinced and highly critical does not mean he did could not follow Marx's arguments; or rather, it could mean that only to a Marxist¬ (Zwerdling, 20).

It is in Animal Farm, lesser talked about for the author's social theories than Nineteen Eighty-Four, that Orwell's criticisms of Marxism can be seen as well as Orwell's social theory, which can be seen through a careful reading of what the animals refer to as Animalism. Animalism, as we will see, has its faults and inaccuracies, but Orwell's use of it is to put forth his own political and social doctrine based on remedying those faults. Orwell's Animalism, what I believe to be his moderately Marxist-Leninist ideology, is different from the animals', but it is Orwell's Animalism that can best be compared to Marxism.

Full Text...

http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/2074/orwell.htm

http://webspawner.com/users/donquijote
__________________
"What worries me is not the violence of the few, but the indifference of the many" -M.L. King

Nice little article about Orwell and the "New Europe."

This is a place the liberal, politically correct America haters would love.

http://www.cato.org/dailys/07-08-03.html

Is the jungle--some call it capitalism--any better than Animalism?

Some more thought on Animalism:

I think the jungle is like a well crafted web of complicity (also called an 'ecosystem'). The lions (they usually become tyrants) only cares about eating and uses whatever power it needs. Foxes (these usually go into politics) get the next biggest chunk. The hyenas get the most leftovers, so they blindly defend the King. Next is the vultures, who get some but not much (these usually go into churches and NGOs). Then is the parrot who gets little, but roars like a lion (these are usually eaten by the lion in times of crisis). And also there's the ostrich, who functions as head of large organizations for its capacity to bury its head in the sand in times of accountability... Of course, at the wrong end of the food chain you find the little animals. But, hey, nothing is perfect...

And according to the Jungle Book, which is written by the animals at the upper end of the food chain, they lived happily ever after...

http://webspawner.com/users/donquijote

neither